Happy Halloween!

Saturday night we went to the Fall Festival at Ashlyn and Haley's school. Unlike some people, I did not volunteer to run any of the various booths, as I am a crappy school supporter. We weren't even going to go, because Saturday morning we did the Army-dillo 10K and then in the early afternoon the girls had a skating birthday party. By late afternoon I was completely beat down and all I wanted to do was sit in the recliner and watch some old tivoed episodes of Dog the Bounty Hunter.
Ashlyn and Haley wanted to go to the Fall Festival solely for the Haunted House. That is the only reason they wanted to go. "Please," they whined all afternoon, "we want to go to a Haunted House!" So Scott was going to take them over there right quick and then they whined because they wanted everyone to go. We ended up getting in the car and taking them and their excitement was practically palpable.
We got to the Festival and got in line for the Haunted House, which was by far attracting the most attention (if you don't count the Cake Walk, where I saw two mothers fighting over line position-I'm telling you, it was dog eat dog over at the Cake Walk), while Scott bought $10 worth of Festival tickets.
And I wish I could put what happened next into words. I really really do. I wish there was somehow a video of it actually, because words could never, ever do it justice. The Haunted House was being run by some of Scott's soldier's, otherwise known as The Army Finest. (right) Well, they did an excellent job. The kids were scared out of their minds. And we took in three more with us, two girls from Ashlyn's class and one boy from Haley's class. We got in the door before it started and Ashlyn hyperventilated. I'm not lying. I had to put my hand over her mouth. She dug in for all she was worth and lost her mind. So Haley started crying. So Owen started backing up. So Scott got mad. Surprise.
The leader person took us through, and it was all full of strobe lights and loud screams and scary music and sounds. The little girl in the front had her head down the entire time, covering her eyes. The boy from Haley's class seemed to do okay, but I think he was in some kind of shock. I was next holding Skylar and dragging Ashlyn. And I mean dragging her. She was completely out of her freakin mind with terror. She was letting out short screams about every second that would have shattered glass had there been any around. Scott was shoving her from the back. The other girl was plastered to my back with her head buried in my shirt squeezing the life out of me. Scott was carrying Haley, who didn't look the entire time, and also Owen, who occasionally yelled out but spent the majority of the 3 minutes we were inside trying to climb up onto the top of Scott's head.
I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants. I really did. And I've had four kids so I guess it's some miracle I didn't. But you guys, it was the funniest thing I've ever done to my kids. They are without a doubt scarred for life.
And then there was the end. The end was the best part. They had the doorway all blocked off with a tunned going out the bottom middle and the kids had to crawl through the tunnel to get out. The kids were all so terrified they were fighting over who was going to get in the tunnel first and there was a mad rush for the tunnel and lots of pushing and shoving and right then some soldier dressed up like a monster came sliding in through the tunnel from the outside screaming some hideous, hideous monster scream and he popped up to his feet and acted like he was going to grab them and right then all 7 kids we had with us shit their pants. And it was priceless. And more than anything I never ever ever want to forget it.
But, as you can see, they recovered as soon as we assured them they wouldn't have to go back in (although I was ALL FOR IT) and then I swear they stood there and talked about how it "wasn't that bad." There was a photo booth set up and I didn't have my camera but for four festival tickets they would take one and print it out for you. Here's ours.
Last night we did the Trunk or Treat thing up at the company. We did Scooby Doo this year, and everyone wore their costumes the entire night. Owen also won Best Costume in the '3 and under' division, though I would have totally given it to the baby with the long sleeved white sleeper on whose mother had taken black electrical tape and taped rings around him and made him into a tiny baby inmate. Scooby Doo did not participate in the Best Costume competition as she was too busy shoving candy into her face in the back of the car.

Have you ever

Have you ever had one of those days where everywhere you went you were embarrassed by what your children were doing? Where the last thing you said before you entered the store was "Now don't go in here and act like a bunch of idiots!" and you didn't even get the baby in the buggy before the other three start acting like idiots?

And they only got louder? And you said "Shhh!" and they didn't? And you said "Stop it!" and they didn't? And you threatened them with bodily harm if they didn't quit and they still didn't?

And then you were standing there in front of the checkout lady and you were so mad you couldn't see straight and they were all asking for candy and you said "NO! Did anybody even listen to me before we came in? What was the LAST thing I said before we came in the store?"

And one of your smartass kids says "You said 'Gosh, I hope the Class 6 has Tequila!'"

Have you ever had that happen to you? Or is it just me?

Friday's Feast, 26 October 2007

Appetizer
Name a great website you would recommend to others.
www.mightygoods.com

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how often do you dream at night?
7

Salad
Did you have a pet as a child? If so, what kind and what was its name?
Yes, I had a cat. Her name was Fred.

Main Course
If you had the chance to star in a commercial, what would you choose to advertise?
Birth Control. They could just film anywhere inside my house at any given time on any given day for 30 seconds. I'd set it up to get a percent of the sales and I'd make a freakin fortune.

Dessert
What is your favorite kind of hard candy?
cinnamon discs

Copy cat

"Did you just use the word 'freakin'?"

"Yeah."

"You shouldn't say that word.  Why would you say that word?"

"Well...you say it."

"If I jumped off a bridge would you jump off too?"

"Why on earth would you jump off a bridge?"

The Sandwich Question

There have been a few people who have questioned the type of sandwich I sent to school with Haley that would fit in a liquor store brown paper bag.  No, it was not a sub.  It was a peanut butter and banana sandwich.  I put the peanut butter inside a hot dog bun and put the entire banana in the bag along with it.  Then, Haley peels the banana and sticks it in the hot dog bun and ta-da! she's got a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

I know, I know.  Pure freakin genius.    

Charge card

"Haley, there's a note in your folder that says you have cafeteria charges totaling $1.95."

"Okay."

"No.  Not okay.  Don't you take your lunch?"

"Yes."

"Every day?  Don't you take your lunch every day?"

"Yes."

"Well then how do you owe the cafeteria money?  What are you doing?  You're not doing anything like charging ice cream are you?"

"Hey!  Do you think they would really let me charge ice cream?"

Parent of the Year

No, this post is not about me and my awesome, amazing parenting skills.  This is about what I saw while I was parked in my car waiting for Ashlyn to come out of the building after school today.  

The road where the kids are let out is extremely unsafe.  There are cars parked along both sides and then there are the cars actually driving on the road.  There are two crosswalks, one across from the door on Haley's classroom building and one across from the door on Ashlyn's classroom building.  I was parked on the side of the road opposite the school.  There were two cars parked in front of me, and along came a lady and parked in front of them.  

The lady got out of her car and jaywalked across the street to wait in the grass outside the building.  I was looking through the mail, which I routinely pick up on my way get the girls each day.  I looked up and saw a kid standing along side the cars, but he looked like he was going towards the cars so I didn't think much about it.  He looked like he was about 4 years old.  A car that had picked up a kid passed by and stopped suddenly and I looked up when I heard the squealed tires and saw the same kid kind of dancing around in the traffic lane.  Then I looked over and saw the woman who had earlier crossed the street.  She didn't walk back towards the kid, she just cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered (I had my window down) "I said STAY IN THE CAR!  Get back IN THE CAR!"  And the kid got back in the car.  

Now I was probably about 15 yards away from this kid and I was freaked out.  Here was a 4 year old in the middle of the street.  And when you pick up your kids they are usually all excited about their day and they are pulling everything out of their backpack screaming Look at this!  Look at this!, and a lot of people might not be paying really close attention to the road, especially after you get past the second crosswalk, which is where I was parked, because you really don't expect anyone to be in the middle of the road that far down.  The woman, who I'm assuming was his mother, was probably about 25 yards away from him and she didn't even take one step towards him.  She yelled for him to get back in the car and then she turned away and back to the building to see if any kids had come out yet.  

So I sat and waited, because I live with a 3 1/2 year old boy, and I knew full well what was coming.  And it did.  He got back out of the car and back in the street.  He ran across the street from the car to the parked cars along the other side, meaning he crossed two lanes of traffic.  Then he ran back to the car.  At this point I started to get out of the car and get him but I couldn't because another car was coming by.  I wanted to scream I was so scared!  The boy made it back across to the middle of the road and the driver of the car on the road just layed on the horn.  The mother turned around and hollered again for the boy to get back in the car, and he started back but then I guess the car made him nervous so he turned to go to his mother and she yelled (she had still not moved toward him) "NO!  GET BACK IN THE CAR!"  And the kid is so freaked out he sits down in the middle of the road.  Right on the double yellow line.  I don't know about you, but I'm guessing that if it's hard to see a 4 year old with all the cars around it's even harder to see him when he's sitting down.  

Well, by now I was pissed off and I opened my door and started to get out, as did the driver of the car who had honked.  What happened next was even worse in my mind.  This got the woman moving and she went back and grabbed him and yanked him up to his feet.  She drug him to the side of the road and then in front of all of us she got in his face with her finger (and he's crying) and she's yelling like super meanly, and then she just beats the tar out of him.  It was just so unfair.  So terribly unfair.  I know kids of certain ages are responsible for their own actions and all that, but come on!  This kid was not responsible.  What gets me is WHY she didn't allow the kid to get out with her in the first place.  What harm would have come from that?  Why on earth did she think leaving him in the car was better?  He could have held her hand and then played on the sidewalk inside the fence if she'd let him get out.  But leaving him like that he could have been run over and killed.   And where does she get off beating him for that?

I am not one to ever tell anyone how to raise their kids.  I don't dispense parenting advice.  Want help getting pregnant?  I'm your girl.  I've got that mastered.  I'm awesome at that.  All the other stuff is not my business.  But I really really wanted to slap that lady right across her face.  Someone needs to.  There will come a time I'm afraid where she won't be as lucky as she was today.

Voices

I believe in ghosts.  I know lots of people don't (Scott included), and it probably goes against my beliefs as a christian, but I do.  

I've seen a ghost in my house.  I'm not saying I was standing there and a ghost was standing in front of me, looking at me, but it's more of a fleeting glance of someone.  Once I was sitting on my bed watching tv while I was putting on my shoes.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a little girl about Haley's age come to the end of the hallway by the kids' bedrooms.  She stood there a second and then turned and went back.  It seemed odd to me so I went to see what she was doing.  Only she wasn't there.  She was in the den on the other side of the house.  I was standing there sure I saw someone and trying to figure out why I thouht it was odd and it hit me-the little girl had on a long brownish coat.  I saw what she was wearing.  I don't think she was see-thru or anything, but I know she had medium length dirty blonde hair and she was wearing a long brown coat.  

Then yesterday.  Yesterday Scott took Haley and Owen to Abbot's Grocery to buy some hot dogs.  Ashlyn and I stayed here with Skylar, as we refuse to eat hot dogs, touch hot dogs, cook hot dogs, or buy hot dogs.  Ashlyn was making a sandwich and I was drinking a glass of milk and Piggy was in the highchair shoving a baby cereal bar into her mouth like she was in some sort of contest.  And there it was, clear as day.  A word.  "Ashlyn!"  Just as plain as if I'd said it, only I didn't say it.  I looked at Ashlyn and she was standing there, the peanut butter filled spoon hovering over her bread, and I said "Did someone just say your name?"  and she said "Oh my gosh, did you hear it too?  Who could have said it?"  It was a girls voice, a lot like Haley's or someone her age.  But it didn't sound exactly like Haley's voice.  It sounded like someone was outside the window (the blinds were closed) with there hands cupped around their mouth saying it through the glass.  Scott said we were crazy.  But what in the world was it?

And Ashlyn is not an easy word to say.  We found this out when Haley spent the first two years of her life calling her "Assy" and Owen still says "Ashen".  It's also hard to think it was another sound because what makes a sound that sounds just like the word Ashlyn?  I swear, it was "Ashlyn", clear as a freakin bell.  

So I have a little girl with dirty blonde hair walking around.  I may have seen her once or twice more, but it wasn't as clearly as that one time, an now I have someone I can't see talking.  Or maybe I could have seen her if I'd been looking in the right direction.  Hmmm.  I really hope this works out and I see more of them, because it's very interesting to me.  Why are they here in my house?  And what are they trying to tell Ashlyn? 

Friday's Feast, 19 October 2007

Appetizer
If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?
Whatever breed Jake is, because that dog has got it made!

Soup
What does the color purple make you think of?
Barney.  I hate Barney.  It was the first thing that came to my mind.

Salad
Approximately how long does it take you to get ready each morning?
45 minutes.  Of course that's assuming Skylar is sleeping and not climbing up my leg or getting under the bathroom sink to play with the feminine hygiene products and Owen is at preschool and not in dire need of someone to wipe his butt or get him some chocolate milk or cook him another waffle.

Main Course
How many cousins do you have, and are you close to them?
I have 10 cousins. If you count their wives I have 12. I'm close to some of them.  Some of them think I'm crazy and pretend they don't know me.

Dessert
Take your initials (first, middle, last) and come up with something else those letters could stand for. (Example: SFO = Sweet Funny Otter
JLS-Jennifer Loves Scott.  I totally planned that.   

Skylar's many faces

Field Trips

Today Owen is going on his very first field trip with his preschool class.  And of all the places they could possibly go, The Powers That Be chose the Rec Camp, which is good because, let's face it, Owen is now 3 1/2 years old and it's high time he's introduced to the drinking and excessive get-a-room PDA that off-duty soldiers partake in out there.  At least all the money we are spending at that joint is getting him an education.

Haley is also on a field trip, but they are only going to the boring Pumpkin Patch.  Haley took $1.50 so she will be allowed to buy a small pumpkin, and that means that shortly after she gets in the car after school today (shortly meaning approximately 1.2 seconds) there will be loud fighting and crying because other people in the car will want to touch and hold her pumpkin, which means Haley will not be touching or holding her pumpkin, which will lead her to believe that certain other people may think her pumpkin belongs to them, and on and on and then finally all hell will break loose and I'll have to take away the pumpkin.  And everyone will sulk and I will feel all deja-vu-ish, because this happened last year, and last year I said Okay, there will be no more money for pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, and I will have no one to blame for all this except Scott, who gave Haley the $1.50.   

Haley also needed to pack her lunch in a disposable container today, as it is too much to ask for children to keep up with lunchboxes on field trips.  Luckily I had a paper bag from my last trip to the liquor store for her to use.  It's just one more purpose that heavy drinking serves.  

I give in

Okay, yeah, I'm doing that walking thing.

More than ready

There is a gecko under the couch in the living room the size of a small cat, Scott's at work still, and I don't know what to do about it.

Last week we killed a scorpion in my bedroom with a 3 inch tail.  It was the color of honey.  And the lighter in color they are the more poisonous they are.

Ready to move?  Honey, I was born ready to move.

The walking thing

This past weekend we bought Haley a new bike, because her other bike was Ashlyn's old bike that Pops bought in 2004 right after we moved back home during Scott's deployment to Afghanistan. Needless to say, that bike had seen much, much better days and it was time to retire her. We went to WalMart, which is a great place to buy bikes, because they are inexpensive there and you don't feel badly about when people leave them out in the rain to rust or behind your car for you to run over. Haley picked out an obnoxious 20" purple one with streamers and all other kinds of crap hanging off of it.

Sunday we went out to the KOA campground because they have a two mile loop and we thought it would be fun to let the kids ride while we walked with Skylar in the stroller. So out there you have little hill, little hill, small hill, gigantic hill, little hill, small hill, flat ground. Ashlyn got her bike out of the back of Scott's truck, rode it 3 feet, fell off, and was bleeding all over the place. Haley was doing fine until we got to the part of the trail that looks out over the water and she got to looking off the the side, kind of mesmerized by the sun shining off the surface, and she drove right off the side of the road and fell off and promptly started bleeding all over the place too. Owen rode about 1/10 of a mile and then got to the first little hill and decided he couldn't do it. Scott got a bungy cord and tied it to the front of the bike and pulled him up the hills, and let me tell you, this took a looong time.

Sunday night Scott went to Academy and bought this. Now they can all ride their bikes fast while Skylar and I walk and enjoy a quiet commune with nature. So we went Monday, because Scott was off work due to Columbus Day. Then Tuesday after Owen went to preschool Skylar and I went again, and on Thursday we went again. Plus we walked to school Monday to pick up the girls and we walked a couple of evenings this week. All total I have walked somewhere between 11 and 12 miles since Sunday.

Amy has come up with this hairbrained plan, and she wants me to join in. I just want to make it perfectly clear that I am not joining up! I'm already sure I'm going to have to scale back a little on this walking thing because I suffer from something called nasatal, and the more walking I do the more it aggravates my condition. Already after just this week I can tell a difference, and I've lost 4 pounds in the last two weeks, all from the region of my ass. Not good.

Quick update:
1. We still do not have an answer to the "Where are you moving to in June?" question.
2. The house across the street is still for sale.

Sports

Yes, I watch sports. Lots of sports. I do this for two reasons. One, I like to spend time with my husband, and he spends a lot, a lot, of time watching sports. And two? That would be Grady Sizemore. He is my reason. How cute is he? I am his biggest fan...Grady! Call me! We have a big tv in the den and my oh my does Grady look good in HD. I'm so glad the Indians beat the Yankees. I know DJ is going to kill me, but I hate the Yankees. And I wouldn't say I'm a huge Cleveland fan or anything, but Cleveland has Grady.... *sigh*

Another one of my favorites is Tony Romo. I sat up last night watching Dallas play Buffalo and I was physically sick from nerves at the end of that game. Does Tony give good interviews or what? He's so likable. It almost makes you forget he muffed the snap on the kick that would have gotten them into the playoffs last year. Well, almost. Well, not really, but where some people would have dug a hole and climbed in and never climbed out here Tony's come back and now the Cowboys are 5-0. Granted he sucked it up in the first half last night, but the end? The end was great. Then he gets on tv and is just adorable in the interview. And what about that little kicker Nick Folk? I felt so bad for him when they made him kick the ball over. I really thought he would miss it, but nope, he nailed it again. Smooth. Like buttah.

Oh, and if you never watch ESPN you should watch just so you can see that new commercial with Tony in it with Scott Van Pelt. If you don't like sports, watch it for the commercials. They are freakin hilarious. Like this one. And Brett. Brett Favre. You should watch sports because of him. *sigh*

So maybe I'll do this again for a while...

Friday's Feast-05 October, 2007

Appetizer
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you look forward to your birthday?
5-I really don't care

Soup
What is one word you don’t like the sound, spelling, or meaning of?
taliban

Salad
Do you wear sunglasses when you’re outside? If so, what does your current pair look like?
Yes, I wear sunglasses even on cloudy days. It helps you not squint, which you do even when it is cloudy (because it's still bright sometimes). I'm sure I'm wrong, but somehow I feel this will help me not develop such bad wrinkles around my eyes. My current pair have brownish lenses and metal frames with a little metal flower on one side. I think they are made by Mudd.

Main Course
If you were to write a book, to whom would you dedicate it?
That would depend totally on what the book was about.

Dessert
Name a beverage that you enjoy.
I think we all know my answer to this.

Show me the money

Two weeks ago Scott signed a piece of paper and sent it to The Powers That Be saying that he promised he would stay in the Army for another three years. There's apparently a thing where all sorts of Captains are getting out leaving The Powers That Be in a very bad way so they decided to offer some incentives in return for a three year promise. Yesterday, in response to that signed piece of paper, The Powers That Be deposited an ridiculous amount of money into my checking account. And by ridiculous I mean when you go to the ATM to get $50 out to pay the tree trimmer guys who can't take checks because then they would have to claim it as income on their taxes you glance at the balance in your account and have a heart attack right there in front of the BX and fall down and passerbys say "Look how ridiculous she looks, laying on the ground with all those kids running around in the road."

I swear, I have not seen an amount of money that large up close since the time Mr. Claims To Be So Broke He Can't Pay Attention wrote a personal check for my mother's Lexus. So I paid off my car and put the rest in savings. Then I realized that I hadn't taken into consideration that my car payment from this month is automatically sent on the 2nd and it hadn't gotten there yet so I really overpaid the car loan people, and now we will have to wait for them to send the extra money back to us. They are also sending us the title for the car. And I'm going to lose it, as sure as God is my witness, I am going to lose that piece of paper. So I will probably put it with all the Important Papers. Papers you don't want to lose. You know, things like marriage licences, life insurance policies, birth certificates, etc., that we have here in the house. I will put the title with them. Just as soon as I find them.

I was right to worry

Plumber Buddy showed up Monday evening as promised, but that was about the best thing you could say about his visit to our house. From the moment he walked into the bathroom he mumbled on and on and how Skip Town Plumber had done everything wrong and it wasn't going to work and oh, what were we going to do. I called Contractor Jon and he told me not to worry, that Plumber Buddy could fix anything, and it wasn't really bad until he started cussing. Which he did. Exactly at that moment. Loudly. Contractor Jon talked to Plumber Buddy and calmed him down somewhat, and the next thing I knew Plumber Buddy had a screwdriver and a hammer and was chipping the brand new tile off the wall.

That exposed the pipes, and there was more mumbling and cussing, and at that time Scott got home, and the talk turned to what was and was not an appropriate way to put together pipes. Plumber Buddy then tried to solder something and the pipe broke, split right in half, and the water wasn't turned off, so water was shooting everywhere, including inside the wall, which was the problem in the first place--the inside of the wall behind the tile was wet and growing mold. So I'm freaking out, because now we're right back where we started and Plumber Buddy is running around in the front yard trying to turn off the water and then I decided I was better off to just go to my happy place.

Plumber Buddy got everything fixed, and yesterday the tilers came back and today they are coming back to grout the tile and then after the grout sets up the shower should actually be available for use. And I believe that. Right. Totally.

The journey to Owen

Saturday night Owen spent the night with Austin and Matthew Ludwigsen and Hayley Ludwigsen spent the night at our house. Which might be considered a good trade-off except for the fact that the boys played outside all day at the Ludwigsen's house while the girls played inside all day here, squealing and giggling and singing and dancing and making us watch it all. Good trade? Humph!

Sunday Eric Ludwigsen called to let us know that he was taking the boys fishing on the Concho River downtown. We ran some errands and then tried to find them. I talked to Eric on the phone, which was the first mistake we made, because that was like the blind leading the blind. He said "museum" which I took to mean "visitor's center" and it turned out both of us were wrong. We parked at the visitor's center and walked in the direction away from Chadbourne (Rd or whatever) because Eric said they were in the direction away from Chadbourne.

All you geniuses out there probably realize that if two people start out on opposite sides of a road and you both walk away from Chadbourne then you are walking away from each other. Well, where the heck were you last night with all your directional wisdom? Remember, I am kinned to my mother, who once left Atlanta and realized she'd missed the exit to Rome only when she got to the Welcome to Tennessee sign.

So we walked all the way one way, until Scott decided we were going the wrong way and we turned around and walked all the way back until we were at Chadbourne. Then Scott called Eric and figured out where he was (since he's like a Land-Nav God or something) and shortly after that we found them. Owen was barefoot, since "both his feet fell in the river", but he was having a blast anyway. Then we had to walk back to the car while Eric rode in his air-conditioned truck along side us on the road, yelling out football scores and "racing" us.

And we must have walked for miles. Miles and miles and it was so hot and I asked Scott how far we'd come and he said probably about a mile, which must have been wrong because, trust me, we walked for miles. But really, we had a nice time on the walk. If you don't count all the walking.

The bathroom

I would like to tell everyone that the bathroom is finally finished...but I can't. Because it's not finished. Apparently two weeks is not a sufficient enough amount of time to put in a new bathtub and retile around it. Actually, all we are waiting on is the plumber. Who has skipped town. And no, I'm not making this stuff up.

I'm very glad that all the tiling is complete, mainly because I was getting tired of having to look at this:
Now you would think that the guy on the right could do the plumbing too, as he is dressed all plumber-like, with his pants belted under his ass. The other guy wasn't really good for much the first few days, but I felt he really stepped up and pulled his weight using the wet saw last week.

The original plumber is gone, maybe to Midland, we're not totally sure, but frankly I'm not surprised. He came Friday the week before last, at about 7:30 at night and said he'd come back the next day, which he didn't. Then on Sunday Contractor Jon had to track him down and threaten him with bodily harm to get him back over here. That was the last we saw of him. Now a new guy, Contractor Jon's "plumber buddy", is coming over here today between 5 and 5:30. Supposedly.

By "plumber buddy" I'm assuming this is some guy who's a buddy of Contractor Jon's who happens to be a plumber. Because surely if by "plumber buddy" he meant "yeah, we're both plumbers and we're buddies" like you mean when you say, oh, "scrapbooking buddy" and you mean you both scrapbook and you're buddies, then that would mean Contractor Jon knows enough about plumbing to actually categorize himself as a plumber and then he could just come do it himself.

So maybe, maybe, today will be the day they finish the bathroom, and tomorrow will be the day I get to take a shower in my bathroom again, instead of using the other one and then streaking through the house to my closet to get my clothes. And maybe, maybe this will be the last issue we have to deal with in this house/town before we move away. But I doubt it, not because I'm pessimistic, but because I'm realistic. Or maybe I'm pessimistically realistic. Whatever. Does it really matter anymore?